Now the airline doesn`t fly to any cities in Broward or Palm Beach counties, and only flies to Miami, Orlando and Tampa in Florida. The $49 ``Air Bridge`` flights between the three cities are meant to feed the airline`s international route system, said Mike Clark, a Pan Am spokesman in Miami.

On Sept. 31, Pan Am stopped flying to West Palm Beach. On Sept. 6, the airline left Fort Lauderdale. Clark said the bulk of the airline`s employees now live in Dade County.

Nonetheless, many local travelers still rely on Pan Am for its ``Air Bridge`` flights, its Miami-Caribbean flights, and its Miami-London trips.

``I`m scheduled to take a Pan Am flight from Tampa to London on March 3, and I don`t know what to do,`` said one Fort Lauderdale resident, who asked not to be identified.

``We`re not panicking or anything,`` said Yuval Nissan, owner of Boulevard Travel in Lauderdale-by-the-Sea. ``But I`m telling agents to book flights on other airlines if possible until the outcome of negotiations are known.``

Company executives and officials of the Transport Workers Union representing mechanics and cargo handlers met with a federal mediator starting last Thursday in hopes of averting a strike.

TWU members are free to strike on Thursday if an agreement isn`t reached by then. Pan Am`s other four unions have said they`ll likely honor TWU picket lines.

Last August, TWU and other union workers staged a one-day walkout because Pan Am stopped making payments to the union pension fund.

Company and union officials continue to haggle over pay, work rules and benefits.

Meanwhile, Pan Am said it is preparing for a possible strike.

The airline is busily recruiting flight attendants in Miami, New York, Houston, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Honolulu.

In addition, Pan Am said it may have to sharply reduce its size if negotiations fail.

At least 299 of the airline`s 1,600 pilots, among other workers, will lose their jobs, Clark said.

Pan Am said it badly needs further wage and productivity concessions to ensure a financial turnaround.

The airline lost $92.3 million for the three months ending Dec. 31, and $206.8 million for all of 1984. That compares with a fourth-quarter loss of $58.6 million in 1983, and a $51 million loss for all of 1983.

Revenue fell to $787.7 million in 1984 from $845.5 million for the previous year. The airline has made an annual net profit since 1980.

What`s more, Pan Am must pay $170 million to its 21,000 union employees starting Thursday, because it lost a federal court battle last month over a plan to extend last year`s wage freeze plan. The union workers account for most of Pan Am`s workforce of 26,000.

Union leaders blame Pan Am`s management for its financial troubles. They`re loudly calling for the resignation of C. Edward Acker, named chairman and chief executive officer in September 1981.

Acker formerly was the chairman of Miami-based Air Florida, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last July 3. Under Chapter 11, a company seeks protection from creditors while it devises a debt-repayment plan.

Some Air Florida employees blame Acker for the airline`s demise. They said he tried to expand Air Florida too quickly.

Pan Am`s pilots` union, upset over Acker`s management of an airline whose headquarters are on Park Avenue, have proposed a $500 million leveraged buyout of the company.

Other unions have said they`ll consider the buyout plan, but many union leaders see it as a solution far in the future.

``We have to resolve the crisis that`s coming (this week),`` said William Genoese, director of the airline division of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters.

Genoese also said he is meeting with investors who may be interested in acquiring Pan Am.

The airline`s Labor Council has invited Brian Freeman, who has been a financial consultant in a plan for employees to buy out Denver-based Frontier Airlines, to address the union on March 5.

Freeman also helped negotiate the recent labor contract between Eastern Airlines and its flight attendants` union.